With the new year quickly approaching, BBF looks back to 2014. During the 2014 year, BBF awarded over $6.7 million in grants to nonprofits in Muncie, Delaware County, and Indiana. See the year in review here: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Ball-Brothers-Foundation/132558043609723?ref=bookmarks

MUNCIE, Ind.— Ball Brothers Foundation is pleased to announce that a five-member panel will select finalists for the foundation’s third “Excellence in Teaching Award.” The honor includes a $15,000 grant to promote innovation in the winning teacher’s district, school and classroom. The Excellence in Teaching grants program is open to K-12 classroom educators with at least three years of experience in any of Delaware county’s public school systems. Each district develops its own selection process and has the opportunity to submit two nominations. Applications are due Feb. 1.

The judges for the 2015 award include Patricia Clark, chair of Ball State University’s Department of Elementary Education; Gary Pavlechko, director of teaching technology, in the Office of Educational Excellence, at Ball State University; Kate Love-Jacobson, vice president for training at High Performance Government Network, Fort Wayne; Dale Basham, veteran educator, school administrator, and current President of Muncie Rotary Club; and Chris LaMothe, EVP for transportation and industrials of Element in Daleville, former president and CEO of the Indiana Chamber of Commerce, and a current member of the Indiana Commission for Higher Education.

“All across Delaware County, teachers are going above and beyond to provide authentic learning experiences for their students. This award gives Ball Brothers Foundation the opportunity to draw attention to the efforts of these outstanding teachers,” said Jud Fisher, president and chief operating officer of Ball Brothers Foundation. “We are always inspired by the creativity, innovation, and dedication displayed by the nominees.”

The first award was presented in 2013 to Holly Stachler, an elementary school teacher in Yorktown. The 2014 award was presented to Julian Ravenscroft, an algebra and calculus teacher at Daleville Jr.-Sr. High School in Daleville. Among other criteria, teachers are selected based on their use of unique approaches to motivate students through authentic learning experiences.

Application forms are available on the Ball Brothers Foundation website (http://www.ballfdn.org/) and can be completed and filed electronically. Members of the foundation’s staff select the overall winner from a field of three finalists. The $15,000 grant is a shared award with $5,000 going to the winner’s district, $5,000 going to the winner’s school, and $5,000 going to the winner’s classroom. In the past six years Ball Brothers Foundation has made more than $5.5 million in grants to education, but the “Excellence in Teaching Award” is the first initiative to honor individual educators.

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With assets exceeding $160 million, Ball Brothers Foundation annually makes grants in support of arts and culture, education, the environment, health, human services and public affairs. The Muncie-based family foundation gives priority to projects and programs that improve the quality of life in BBF’s home city, county and state.